Deformable armrest having a patterned array of channels

ABSTRACT

An automotive armrest includes an elastic core defining a patterned array of channels extending therethrough such that the elastic core exhibits a predetermined target vertical stiffness and a predetermined target lateral stiffness different than the predetermined target vertical stiffness. The automotive armrest also includes a skin arranged with the elastic core.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates to an automotive armrest having an array ofchannels and a method of producing the same.

BACKGROUND

An armrest is a feature routinely added to modern vehicles to providecomfort to the driver and passengers who may wish to rest their armswhile sitting in the vehicle. Several different types of armrests havebeen developed including an armrest built into a vehicle door or backpanel.

SUMMARY

In at least one embodiment, an automotive armrest is disclosed. Thearmrest includes an elastic core defining a patterned array of channelshaving a same orientation extending therethrough. The elastic coreexhibits a predetermined target vertical stiffness and a predeterminedtarget lateral stiffness different than the predetermined targetvertical stiffness. The armrest further includes a skin arranged withthe elastic core to form the automotive armrest. Each of the channelshas a cross-section defined by a lateral dimension and a verticaldimension. The lateral dimension is less than the vertical dimension.The cross-sections may be ellipses. The cross-sections may be rhombuses.The channels may be arranged in a regular pattern. The widths, lengths,or both of some of the channels may be different. The channels mayextend along a vertical axis of the core. The patterned array mayinclude a same number of the channels in each row, column, or both. Theelastic core and skin may be 3-D printed.

In another embodiment, an automotive armrest is disclosed. The armrestmay include a deformable core defining a patterned array of channelsextending along a longitudinal axis thereof. The deformable coreexhibits a predetermined target lateral stiffness and a predeterminedtarget vertical stiffness greater than the predetermined target lateralstiffness. Each of the channels has a cross-section defined by a lateraldimension and a vertical dimension and wherein the lateral dimension isless than the vertical dimension. The cross-sections may be ellipses.The cross-sections may be rhombuses. Some of the cross-sections may bedifferent. The patterned array may be symmetric. The dimensions of someof the channels may be different. The channels may constitute at leastabout 20% of a surface area of the deformable core's cross section.

In yet another embodiment, a method of producing a portion of anautomotive armrest is disclosed. The method may include printing anelastic core having an internal structure that includes a patternedarray of channels extending therethrough. The elastic core exhibits apredetermined target vertical stiffness and a predetermined targetlateral stiffness different than the predetermined target verticalstiffness. The channels may have a same orientation along a longitudinalaxis of the elastic core. The method may include printing a skin on theelastic core. The method may further include printing the elastic corefrom a first material and printing the skin from a second materialdifferent than the first material. The patterned array may besymmetrical. The patterned array may include a same number of channelsin each row, column, or both.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A depicts a front view of a vehicle including a door panel havingan armrest facing an occupant's rib cage;

FIG. 1B depicts a perspective view of a vehicle including a door panelhaving an armrest facing an occupant's rib cage;

FIG. 2A depicts a perspective view of an armrest depicted in FIG. 1having a stiff core and an outer layer;

FIG. 2B depicts a perspective view of the core depicted in FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2C illustrates a perspective view of the outer layer depicted inFIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an exemplary armrest having a coreincluding horizontally-oriented channels and a skin according to one ormore embodiments;

FIGS. 4A-4C show perspective views of the armrest depicted in FIG. 3 andits internal structure;

FIG. 4D shows a perspective view of an alternative armrest havingvertically-oriented channels;

FIGS. 5A-5F show exemplary cross-sectional views of the core depicted inFIGS. 4A-4C;

FIGS. 6A-6N show exemplary cross-sectional views of the core depicted inFIGS. 4A-4C;

FIGS. 7A-7E show exemplary cross-sectional views of the core depicted inFIGS. 4A-4C;

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective schematic view of an exemplary 3-Dprinting system capable of producing an armrest according to one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the core depicted in FIGS.4A-4C;

FIG. 10A shows a perspective schematic view of an exemplary 3-D printingsystem having an extrusion head capable of producing an armrestaccording to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 10B shows a detailed view of the extrusion head depicted in FIG.10A; and

FIG. 11 depicts a perspective view of a vehicle including a door panelhaving an armrest facing an occupant's rib cage according to one or moreembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to beunderstood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examplesand other embodiments may take various and alternative forms. Thefigures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggeratedor minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore,specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not tobe interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis forteaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the presentinvention. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand,various features illustrated and described with reference to any one ofthe figures may be combined with features illustrated in one or moreother figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustratedor described. The combinations of features illustrated providerepresentative embodiments for typical applications. Variouscombinations and modifications of the features consistent with theteachings of this disclosure, however, could be desired for particularapplications or implementations.

Except where expressly indicated, all numerical quantities in thisdescription indicating dimensions or material properties are to beunderstood as modified by the word “about” in describing the broadestscope of the present disclosure.

The first definition of an acronym or other abbreviation applies to allsubsequent uses herein of the same abbreviation and applies mutatismutandis to normal grammatical variations of the initially definedabbreviation. Unless expressly stated to the contrary, measurement of aproperty is determined by the same technique as previously or laterreferenced for the same property.

Reference is being made in detail to compositions, embodiments, andmethods of the present invention known to the inventors. However, itshould be understood that disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary ofthe present invention which may be embodied in various and alternativeforms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to beinterpreted as limiting, rather merely as representative bases forteaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the presentinvention.

The description of a group or class of materials as suitable for a givenpurpose in connection with one or more embodiments of the presentinvention implies that mixtures of any two or more of the members of thegroup or class are suitable. Description of constituents in chemicalterms refers to the constituents at the time of addition to anycombination specified in the description, and does not necessarilypreclude chemical interactions among constituents of the mixture oncemixed. The first definition of an acronym or other abbreviation appliesto all subsequent uses herein of the same abbreviation and appliesmutatis mutandis to normal grammatical variations of the initiallydefined abbreviation. Unless expressly stated to the contrary,measurement of a property is determined by the same technique aspreviously or later referenced for the same property.

Typically, a passenger vehicle is equipped with a number of armrestssuch as a central armrest which may fold away, provide storage, cupholders, the like, or a combination thereof. Additionally, the frontseat may offer one or two foldable armrests. It is also typical toinclude armrests built into the front and rear doors, or the side of thevehicle if there is no rear door. These built-in armrests are requiredto be sufficiently strong to meet design and impact specifications. Atypical built-in armrest 10 of a front door 11 of a vehicle 13 and theposition of the armrest 10 relative to the occupant 12 is depicted inFIGS. 1A and 1B. As can be seen, the armrest 10 is aligned with theoccupant's rib cage 14.

The structure of a typical armrest 10 is depicted in FIG. 2. The armrest10 includes a stiff core 15 and an outer layer 16. The stiff core 15 mayinclude a honeycomb structure which is typically extruded. The outerlayer 16 may include inflatable rubber or a plastic skin which isattached to the stiff core 15. Manufacturing of the armrest 10 may becostly and time consuming because the stiff core 15 and the outer skin16 are produced separately and have to be assembled together which addsan additional step to the manufacturing process. Therefore, there is aneed for an economical and efficient method of producing a built-inarmrest.

In one or more embodiments, depicted in FIG. 3, an armrest 18 isdisclosed. The armrest 18 and its portions may have any shape, size, orform as long as the armrest 18 is capable of serving its function ofproviding support to an occupant's arm. The armrest 18 includes a core20 with a patterned array of channels 22 within its interior. Thearmrest 18 may further include a skin 24 arranged with the core 20 toform the armrest 18. The skin 24 may also include an array of pluralityof channels, the array being the same or different than the array withinthe core 20. When the skin 24 forms a portion of the armrest 18, thecore may form at least about 50, 60, 70, 80, 90%, or more of the totalmass of the armrest 18. The armrest 18, the core 20, and/or the skin 24may be deformable, elastic, collapsible, malleable, flexible, yieldingto lateral impact, or a combination thereof.

Referring to FIGS. 4A-4C, a number of channels 22 extend along thelongitudinal axis x of the core 20. The dimensions, orientation, number,pattern, geometry, or a combination thereof allow the armrest 18 to havedifferent stiffness response in different directions. Specifically, thecore 20 is designed to exhibit a predetermined target lateral stiffnesswhich is different than the predetermined target vertical stiffness. Thetarget lateral stiffness along the axis z is relatively smaller than thetarget vertical stiffness along the y axis. The difference in thestiffness response allows the armrest 18 to meet structural requirementswhile also sufficiently compressing laterally during a side impact.

As is illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B, depicting exemplary prospectiveviews of the core 20 depicted in FIG. 3, one or more of the channels 22extending through at least a portion of the core 20 may have the same ordifferent dimensions. At least about 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%,80%, or more of the channels 22 may have the same, length, width,height, or a combination thereof. As can be seen in FIG. 4A, all of thechannels 22 may have the same length 1. Alternatively, as can be seen inFIG. 4B, at least one channel 22 may have a length different from theremaining channels 22. The channels 22 may run the entire length of thecore 20 along the axis x. Due to the varying dimensions of the core 20,all channels 22 may run the entire length of the core 20 while havingdifferent lengths. As is shown in FIG. 4B, at least one channel 22 maybe interrupted by the core material 20 at one or more locations. Severalportions of such channel 22 are thus separated from one another whilebeing aligned along the same axis. Additionally, in one or moreembodiments, the channels 22 may feature different thickness and/orshape throughout their length, as can be further seen in FIG. 4B.

FIG. 4C further illustrates an alternative embodiment in which the skin24 has a sufficient thickness to form a substantial portion of thearmrest 18 and contains at least one channel 22, 23, or both within theskin 24. Channels 23 have at least one different property such as anorientation, dimensions, number, pattern, geometry, or purpose thanchannels 22. For example, the channels 23 may have smaller or largerdimensions than at least one channel 22. The channels 23 may have higherdensity within the skin 24 than is the density of channels 22 within thecore 20. The channels 23 may be orientated along a different axis thanthe longitudinal axis x of the armrest 18. The channels 23 may be spacedin a different pattern than channels 22 or be spaced in a pattern whichis not pre-determined. The channels 23 may have a different geometrywith a different cross-section than channels 22. For example, thecross-section of channels 23 may be a square, a circle, a heptagon, anoctagon, a nonagon, a trapezium, an irregular shape, an asymmetricalshape, the like, or a combination thereof. In yet another embodiment, atleast one channel 23 may be incorporated in the core 20 also havingchannels 22, in the skin 24, or both, as long as the armrest 18 is stillcapable of providing lower target stiffness in the lateral directionthan the target stiffness in the vertical direction.

In yet another embodiment depicted in FIG. 4D, an armrest 18 having acore 20 including a number of channels 22 extending along the verticalaxis y of the core 20 is disclosed. Alternatively still, the core 20 mayinclude at least one portion having horizontally-oriented channels 22and at least one portion including vertically-oriented channels 22. Thecore 20 in these embodiments is also designed to exhibit a predeterminedtarget lateral stiffness along the axis z which is relatively smallerthan the predetermined target vertical stiffness along the y axis,yielding different response in the two directions. The channels 22oriented vertically along the y axis may have the same or differentproperties as the horizontally-oriented channels 22 described throughoutthis application. While FIGS. 5A-5F, 6A-6N, 7A-7E, and 9 depictcross-sectional views of the horizontally-oriented channels, the shownarrangements, dimensions, shapes, geometry, and patterns of the channels22, as well as the description related to these figures, are alsoapplicable to the vertically-oriented channels 22.

Referring now to the horizontally-oriented and vertically-orientedchannels 22 within the core 20, the width w and/or height h of at leastsome of the channels 22 may be the same or different. The width w andheight h of all the channels 22 may be the same, as FIG. 4A illustrates.Alternatively, the core 20 may include such arrangement of channels 22in which channels 22 of at least two different widths and/or heightsexist. Such arrangements are illustrated in FIGS. 5A-5D, depictingexemplary cross-sectional views of the core 20 depicted in FIGS. 4A-4C.FIGS. 5A and 5C illustrate a core 20 having channels 22 of the samewidth and height in more than one row or column, respectively. FIGS. 5Eand 5F show a core 20 having channels 22 of at least three differentwidths and heights. The channels 22 having the same width and height maybe evenly distributed throughout the core 20, as is illustrated in FIGS.5B and 5D, or be randomly distributed, such as in FIG. 5F.Alternatively, the channels 22 may be distributed throughout the core 20in such a manner so that the width and height of the channels 22increases in one direction, for example in the direction towards theoccupant (not depicted), as is shown in FIG. 5E. As FIG. 5F furtherillustrates, at least one portion 26 of the core 20 may be free ofchannels 22. Such portions 26 may constitute about 95%, 85%, 75%, 65%,55%, 45%, 35%, 25%, 15%, or less of the surface area of the core's crosssection.

The core 20 may include one or more channels 22. The number of channels22 depends on specific requirements of a specific application and may beoptimized, just as the dimensions, orientation, pattern, and geometry ofthe channels 22 may be optimized to meet desired specifications. Thenumber of channels 22 refers to a number of channels per unit area ofthe core 20. For example, the core 20 may include one channel, 2, 3, 5,10, 20, 30, 40, 50, or more channels per unit area of the core 20. Thechannels may form about 1%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%,or more of the surface area of the core's cross section.

Exemplary cores 20 having a different number of channels are depicted inFIGS. 6A-6M showing cross-sectional views of the core 20 depicted inFIGS. 4A-4C. The one or more channels 22 may be located centrally withinthe core 20, as is illustrated in FIGS. 6A-6C. Alternatively, at leastsome of the channels 22 may be located alongside at least one side 28 ofthe core 20, which leaves the central portion 30 of the core free ofchannels 22. Such embodiments are shown in FIGS. 6D-6F. In an embodimentdepicted in FIG. 6G, all of the channels 22 are located alongside justone side 28 of the core 20, leaving majority of the core 20 free ofchannels 22. The number of channels 22 in each row may be the same, asin FIGS. 6E and 6F, or different, as is illustrated in FIGS. 6H and 6I.Additionally, the number of channels 22 may be the same in each row andcolumn, as can be seen in FIG. 6J. The channels 22 may be evenlydistributed throughout the entire mass of the core 20, as in theembodiment depicted in FIG. 6J. Alternatively, all of the channels 22may be clustered within a portion of the core 20, as can be seen in FIG.6G.

Additionally, the pattern of the array of the channels 22 may beregular, as can be seen in FIGS. 6I and 6J, irregular, illustrated inFIG. 6K, symmetrical, illustrated in FIGS. 6B-6F, or asymmetrical,illustrated in FIG. 6K. More than one pattern of channels 22 may bepresent in the core 20. The pattern may provide channels 22 in adiagonal direction of the core 20, as is illustrated in FIGS. 6L-6N. Thepattern may have any design as long as the core 20 is capable offulfilling its function of providing lower target stiffness in thelateral direction than the target stiffness in the vertical direction.In one or more embodiments, the distance d of each channel 22 from theclosest side 28 of the core 20 may be the same, as is illustrated inFIGS. 6B and 6D-6F. Alternatively, the distance d between the channel 22and the side 28 closest to the channel 22 may be different for at leastsome for the channels 22, as is illustrated in FIGS. 6K and 6M.

The geometry of the channels 22 may be the same or different for atleast some of the channels 22 within the core 20. Each channel 22 has across-section having a lateral dimension or width w and a verticaldimension or height h. The lateral dimension is smaller than thevertical dimension so that the width w of each channel 22 is smallerthan the height h of the channel 22. The ratio of w to h may be the sameof different for at least some of the channels 22. The ratio of w:h maybe from about 1:2 to 1:5. At least about 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%,70%, 80%, or more channels 22 may have the same cross-section. Providingthe same cross-section for all the channels 22 may simplify thearmrest's manufacturing process. Yet, customization of the geometry ofthe channels 22 may provide further opportunity to optimize propertiesof the armrest 18 locally.

The cross-section of the channel 22 may be an ellipsis, illustrated inFIG. 7A; a rhombus, illustrated in FIG. 7B; a hexagon elongated alongits vertical axis, illustrated in FIG. 7C; an oval, a rounded rectangle,a rectangle, an elongated quatrefoil, a curvilinear triangle, atriangle, a double-convex lens, a kite, a folium, as is illustrated inFigure FD. Other shapes having a lateral dimension smaller than thevertical dimension are contemplated. For example, the channels 22 mayhave a leaf shape elongated along its vertical axis having a pluralityof lobes or a shape of a crescent, as is shown in FIG. 7E. The number oflobes on each side of the leaf-shaped channel 22 may be the same ordifferent for each channel 22. Additionally, each channel 22 may besymmetrical or asymmetrical along at least one axis.

To produce an armrest 18 having the core 20 featuring an array ofchannels 22, as was described above, a 3-D printing method is disclosed.3-D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, describes a numberof various processes used to synthesize a solid three-dimensional objectfrom a digital file based on a 3-D model or another electronic datasource. In an additive manufacturing process, an object is created bylaying down successive layers of material until the entire object iscreated. Each of these layers can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontalcross-section of the final object.

A variety of 3-D printing techniques have been developed such as vatphotopolymerization including stereolithography, material jetting,binder jetting, material extrusion, powder bed fusion, sheet lamination,directed energy deposition. All of the techniques utilize the followingprinciples and at least some of these techniques may be used to producethe armrest 18 described throughout this disclosure. A virtual design ofthe object is created in a Computer Aided Design (CAD) file using a 3-Dmodeling program or with the use of a 3-D scanner which makes a 3-Ddigital copy of the desired object. Any other device capable ofdigitizing real objects into 3-D models may be implemented. The digitalfile contains data about the sliced object to be created so that thedesired object may be created layer by layer. The 3-D printer readsevery slice and forms the object while blending each layer with the nextlayer so that there are hardly any visually discernable signs of thediscreetly applied layers. The layers form the three-dimensional solidobject.

Exemplary 3-D printer systems 32 and 52 are depicted in FIGS. 8, 10A,and 10B. However, any other device capable of 3-D printing thecustomizable skin 24 and the internal structure of the core 20 includingan array of channels 22, as described above, may be utilized to producethe armrest 18. The systems 32 and 52 may further include a scanner, acomputer system, and other conventional parts enabling the printerfunctions that are not depicted. The type of material(s) the armrest 18will be 3-D printed from determines the type of the 3-D printer to beutilized. For example, if a resin is used, stereolithography, digitallight processing, or a multijet 3-D printer system may be implemented.Alternatively, if polymeric materials are used, fused depositionmodelling or selective laser sintering may be the viable methods ofproducing the armrest 18.

An exemplary 3-D printer system 32, using stereolithography, isillustrated in FIG. 8. The system 32 may include a number of parts suchas one or more material supply containers 34, supply lines 36, inkjetprinter heads 38, a UV curing lamp 40 for crosslinking the material, abuilding substrate 42, a building platform 44, an elevator 46 forraising the building platform 44, or the like. As can be seen in FIG. 8,the 3-D printing method utilizing this printing system 32 may includeproducing the armrest 18 from two different materials and applying bothmaterials layer by layer at the same time. The material for the core 20may be supplied from one printer head 38 while the material for the skin24 may be supplied from a second printer head 38. Both printer heads 38are connected to their respective supply container 34 via a supply line36. Alternatively, the method may include producing both the core 20 andthe skin 24 from the same material. Alternatively still, the method mayinclude forming the core 20 and/or the skin 24 from more than twomaterials. Therefore, at least one portion of the core 20 and/or theskin 24 may be formed from a different material than the remainder ofthe core 20 and/or the skin 24, respectively. For example, as isillustrated in FIG. 9, a portion 48 surrounding the channel 22 withinthe core 20 may be formed from one material while at least one otherportion 50 of the core 20 may be formed from a different material. Thisallows for further localized optimization of properties of the armrest18. For example, a portion of the armrest 18 closest to the occupant 12may be formed from a different material than a portion of the armrest 18closest to the vehicle exterior. Thus, during the side impact, theoccupant's body may come in contact with the softest portion of thearmrest 18, which may further protect the occupant's ribcage or otherparts of the occupant's body from potential damage.

In another embodiment, an exemplary 3-D printer system 52 for fuseddeposition modeling, illustrated in FIG. 10A, is used. The 3-D printingsystem 52 may include the following components: one or more materialsupply spools 53, a building substrate 42, a building platform 44, anelevator 46, and an extrusion head 54. The system 52 may include one,two, or more supply material spools 53 so that the armrest 18 may beproduced from one, two, or more different materials, as was describedabove. One of the supply material spools 53 may provide a materialproviding support to the armrest 18 which is being 3-D printed. Theextrusion head 54, illustrated in detail in FIG. 10B, includes one ormore extrusion nozzles 56 into which the material filament 58 from thematerial supply spools (depicted in FIG. 10A) is being provided. Thefilament 58 is being moved along by a drive mechanism 60 before reachingliquefiers 62. The liquefied material is then deposited layer by layeraccording to the digital file and forms the armrest 18, optionally atleast partially surrounded by a support structure formed from thesupport material.

The materials which may be used to produce the core 20, the skin 24, orboth may be optimized based on the requirements of a specificapplication such as a required strength, softness, pliability, color,environmental concerns, customer preference, etc. For example, thematerials may be free of or contain only a small amount of odors andharmful materials such as styrene, produce low emissions or warping, ora combination thereof. The materials should enable production ofaccurate and repeatable armrests 18 which are stable over time,functional, durable, wear-resistant, fade-resistant, chemical-resistant,water-resistant, UV-resistant, have good thermal resistance, memoryretention, desired gloss, color, mechanical properties such astoughness, strength, dimensional stability, the like, or a combinationthereof. At least one material used may further provide a slight stretchto the armrest 18 and/or provide a soft and yielding area of the armrest18 which enhances the difference in lateral and vertical stiffnessresponse of the armrest 18. Such material may be, for example, athermoplastic elastomer which allows production of a soft, elastic core20 and/or skin 24 similar to soft rubber.

The core 20 and the skin 24 may be produced from the same material ormaterials. Alternatively, a harder, more rigid material may be used forthe core 20 and a softer material for the skin 24. Additionally, atleast the materials used for the production of the skin 24 shouldproduce a visually and texturally appealing cover of the armrest 18.Additionally, the skin 24 and/or the core 20 may be formed from one ormore materials having a color and/or texture matching the vehicleinterior such as an imitate leather or wood grain. Alternatively, thematerials used for the skin 24 and/or the core 20 may enable the armrest18 to visually stand out in comparison to the remainder of the vehicleinterior.

Exemplary materials the core 20 and/or the skin 24 may be 3-D printedfrom may include thermoplastics such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene(ABS), ABS-based thermoplastics such as ABSplus, ABS-M30, ABSi,ABS-M30i, ABS-ESDI, polycarbonate (PC), PC-ABS, polyetherimide (PEI)resin, polyphenylsulfone (PPSF/PPSU), nylon, polyamide (PA), polystyrene(PS), polylactic acid (PLA), acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA),thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), engineered plastics, the like, or acombination thereof. Other exemplary materials may include liquidUV-curable photopolymer resins such as epoxy-based or acrylate-basedresins and other engineered resins.

Referring to FIG. 11, the armrest 18 produced by the method describedabove may form the entire armrest area 64 of the vehicle door or backpanel 66. Alternatively, the armrest 18 may form only a portion of theentire armrest area and be connected to another portion 68 which isformed differently, at least partially from different materials such asharder plastic materials, or both. The connection may be produced by anyconventional method. Additionally, if the armrest portion 18 forms onlya portion of the entire armrest area 64, no discernable differencebetween the portions may be apparent and the entire armrest area 64 mayappear as a single piece. For example, this may be possible by 3-Dprinting the core 20 and/or the skin 24 from a material which will mimicthe design of the remaining portion 68. Alternatively, only the core 20may be printed, connected to the remaining portion 68, and an outerlayer may be secured to the entire armrest area 64.

While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended thatthese embodiments describe all possible forms of the disclosure. Rather,the words used in the specification are words of description rather thanlimitation, and it is understood that various changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may becombined to form further embodiments of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An automotive armrest comprising: an elastic coredefining a patterned array of channels having a same orientationextending therethrough such that the elastic core exhibits apredetermined target vertical stiffness and a predetermined targetlateral stiffness different than the predetermined target verticalstiffness; and a skin arranged with the elastic core to form theautomotive armrest.
 2. The armrest of claim 1, wherein each of thechannels has a cross-section defined by a lateral dimension and avertical dimension and wherein the lateral dimension is less than thevertical dimension.
 3. The armrest of claim 2, wherein thecross-sections are ellipses.
 4. The armrest of claim 2, wherein thecross-sections are rhombuses.
 5. The armrest of claim 1, wherein thechannels are arranged in a regular pattern.
 6. The armrest of claim 1,wherein widths, lengths, or both of some of the channels are different.7. The armrest of claim 1, wherein the channels extend along a verticalaxis of the core.
 8. The armrest of claim 1, wherein the patterned arrayincludes a same number of the channels in each row, column, or both. 9.The armrest of claim 1, wherein the elastic core and skin are 3-Dprinted.
 10. An automotive armrest comprising: a deformable coredefining a patterned array of channels extending along a longitudinalaxis thereof such that the deformable core exhibits a predeterminedtarget lateral stiffness and a predetermined target vertical stiffnessgreater than the predetermined target lateral stiffness, wherein each ofthe channels has a cross-section defined by a lateral dimension and avertical dimension and wherein the lateral dimension is less than thevertical dimension.
 11. The armrest of claim 10, wherein thecross-sections are ellipses.
 12. The armrest of claim 10, wherein thecross-sections are rhombuses.
 13. The armrest of claim 10, wherein someof the cross-sections are different.
 14. The armrest of claim 10,wherein the patterned array is symmetric.
 15. The armrest of claim 10,wherein dimensions of some of the channels are different.
 16. Thearmrest of claim 10, wherein the channels constitute at least about 20%of a surface area of the deformable core's cross section.
 17. A methodof producing a portion of an automotive armrest, comprising: 3-Dprinting an elastic core having an internal structure that includes apatterned array of channels extending therethrough such that the elasticcore exhibits a predetermined target vertical stiffness and apredetermined target lateral stiffness different than the predeterminedtarget vertical stiffness, wherein the channels have a same orientationalong a longitudinal axis of the elastic core; and 3-D printing a skinon the elastic core.
 18. The method of claim 17 further comprising 3-Dprinting the elastic core from a first material and 3-D printing theskin from a second material different than the first material.
 19. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the patterned array is symmetrical.
 20. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the patterned array includes a same numberof channels in each row, column, or both.